Most inspirational

Posted on: 17th February 2016

Danielle Stoton is a very inspirational young woman. In August 2014, when she was 18 years old, she suffered a life threatening brain injury in a hit and run incident. The paramedics thought she wouldn’t survive the night.

Despite the severe physical and cognitive injuries that Danielle is now having to overcome, after months of rehabilitation and support from her family and support worker, she is making incredible progress. The fact that she has just won the ‘Most Inspirational’ Pride of the Isle award, run by the charity Lex’s Legacy, is a testament to this.

“Loads of people nominated Danielle,” says her mum Michelle, “and the committee picked her as the outright winner.”

The awards ceremony took place on 23rd January, where Danielle collected her award, making a short speech that showed her modest nature: “I only did what any teenager would do.”

“The ceremony was really good and we met a lot of nice people who were on our table,” says Danielle. “It’s all down to my mum that I was nominated, because she spent a lot of time writing about me on Facebook and other places.”

“Danielle’s always been very strong willed,” says Michelle, “so it’s been really tough on her going from the independent person she was before to needing support every day. She still has trouble controlling her emotions and problems with her short term memory.”

Prior to the incident, Danielle was studying sports science at college and hoped to become a personal trainer with the RAF. As a result of her brain injury Danielle has had to change her life plans and, while she knows it may take some time, she hopes to gain her independence and to pursue her dreams and aspirations.